Just picked up a balck Jeep SRT8 a few months back and havent had a chance to give it a true detail. What steps would you guys take? Its only been washed and dried, I used some ICE quick detailers once but thats about it. Never been waxed. A list of products and steps would be killer. Can i get most of these products local? I will consider ordering a package deal from a vendor but for the time being I want to detail this thing today!!

I waxed my boat yesterday with some Zymol(not sure if it was the US or UK version) but none the less, it made it look really nice!

Should i wash, clay and wax the truck?

Thx!

 

You definitely need to clay, polish, and wax. I wouldn't suggest picking anything up from your local car store because the vendors on this forum would be upset. j/k If you have to pick up anything from the auto parts store, get Mother's clay and lube, and use a cleaner wax like Zymol. Get Meguiars Gold Class car wash, a sheep skin wash mitt, some microfiber towels, and some terry cloth wax/polish pads. You can use Stoner's Invisible Glass cleaner and Stoner's Tire Shine. That should get you by until you buy some better products that will protect better and last longer. Hope this helps!

 

Thanks Moe, very helpful. I used Ice Car Wash with microfiber sponge, followed by Mothers clay and lube, followed by Griots Best of Show wax with terry pad. Dried with mf towels.

My question is...what is the purpose of a cleaner wax? I used Zymol cleaner wax(Illinois version) on my boat's gel coat yesterday and it did a wonderful job. I was hesitant to use the Zymol b/c i thought it was a abrasive and i had just clayed the Jeep, but i noticed the Mothers clay kit came with a Mothers cleaner wax???

All the waxes are confusing...

When should i use a cleaner wax and when should i use a carnuba wax?

I only clayed and waxed(Griots) the hood today. Should I clay, Zymol cleaner wax and then Griots Best of Show wax the entire truck tomorrow?

 

To do it right, you need to clay, POLISH, and wax. Three separate steps. A cleaner wax is taking the polishing and waxing and doing it in one step. Nothing wrong with that but it lacks the effect you'd get if you used each product on its own. Think of claying as exfoliating the paint from contaminants, polishing as the cleaning and conditioning of the paint, and waxing as protecting and enhancing the prior steps. When you calyed and applied the Best of Show wax, you missed the most important step, polishing. So for now, clay and use cleaner wax until you're ready to step up and use the proper products and sequence. If you use the cleaner wax, you don't really need the Griot's BOS wax, but it won't hurt.